Lyon Travel Forum

I just graduated from college and got accepted to teach with the assistantship program in Lyon.

Should I go?

Things I like:
-France (of course)
-large college-aged population
-affordable rent and cost of living in the city
-the food

Things I'm scared of:
-weather
-boredom
-hard to meet people

Tell us a bit about yourself such as where you are from etc then someone could compare things such as cost of living, weather & so on & give you a better answer but at the end of the day only you can make the final choice. A useful website in English for the city of Lyon is www.lyon.fr/vdl/sections/en/tourisme.

Thanks for the link!

I am from a suburb in America outside a huge city. I love culture, art, comedy, movies, things to do, beautiful architecture to look at...I'm a culture vulture and like to be intellectually stimulated. I'm also social and outgoing. I studied abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland and was a bit bored there. In my travels, I loved Amsterdam and Paris but I picked Lyon in my Assistantship application because it seemed like a more tame, practical place to go than Paris. So maybe my fear that Lyon isn't a good choice is completely unfounded (and I apologize for any preconceived notions I have) but Edinburgh wasn't as fun as I expected so that's my fear.

I also prefer temperate to warm weather: I am outdoorsy and like to run daily.

I just graduated from as well, but I lived in Lyon for six months last year as part of study abroad. Lyon is absolutely fantastic, and I highly recommend going. All who visited me, who studied with us, or who've seen the city are all taken by it. Here's what I have to say:

It's the second largest city in France (unless you're from Marseilles) in a perfect location for traveling. It's two hours from Paris (TGV), two hours from Geneva, Switzerland (TGV), and roughly 2 1/2 hours from Provence in the south. You have the Alps to the East, which are viewable from the hill Fourvière, and two major rivers that flow into and meet in the city itself, the Saône and Rhône. It also happens to be the culinary capital of France, featuring world-renown chef competitions and food industry conventions. The food is more French than Paris, as Paris collects the world, Lyon remains distinctively French. Also, it's the home of Interpol (à la Bourne Identity stuff).

Things you like: Large college-aged population is settled with one of the largest in France. I studied as part of the Université Catholique de Lyon in their business school, ESDES. There's numerous parties all the time, and fantastic clubs/discos every night. It'll surprise you. Plus, most of us hung out along the Rhône with other college students at night, it's the thing to do there.

Affordable rent...well...you may have difficulty that way, but it'll be absolutely worth it. It's a city like others. BUT it will be cheaper than Paris as there is more to offer than Paris. Cost of living-wise, it's cheaper than Paris, easily. If you wanted to buy something for an apartment, there's IKEA easily accessible via the T2 tram (I believe the T2).

Food. Culinary capital. It's incredible. There's a daily market everywhere in the city with the largest on Sunday mornings until about 1 p.m., which stretches about five blocks along the Saône near Vieux Lyon.

Transportation: No car needed. Everything is walkable within about 30 minutes, plus there's an incredibly up-to-date metro system, tram system, bus system, and bicycle rental system (which was the basis for the Paris one). A typical ride for a student was 1,10€ if you buy a carnet (set of tickets).

Things you're worried about:
The weather. Don't worry too much. It gets cloudy, rarely downpours, and rarely snows. In the winter, we only received 1/4" of snow and it melted in a few hours. It usually hovers around 32°F in the winter and in the summer can get rather nice.

Boredum. There's museums, festivals, bars, cafés, discos, clubs, people galore. You'll find what you want there, no worries. And if you wanna travel, it's perfect to jump into the TER to Switzerland or hop on a plane at the Lyon Saint-Exupery Airport.

Hard to meet people. Students and young people meet at the Rhône bank nightly, but especially towards the end of the week. You chat, drink, hang out. It's easy to meet people there and people are very warm and receptive. Other than that, it's quite a large city. Just use any French you've got and be friendly.

If you have any more questions, let me know.
-John

See here for information about the museums (in French):
http://www.culture.lyon.fr/culture/sections/fr/musees__expositions

Gastronomy (in English):
http://www.lyon.fr/vdl/sections/en/tourisme/gastronomie_restau_1

History (in English):
http://www.lyon.fr/vdl/sections/en/tourisme/histoire

You can easily run in the city, as there's a long pedestrian corridor that runs from Place Carnot to Place des Terreaux (north-south).

Hi for sur you won't like the weather here and i bet you come from a suny weather!! just wondrring .it was raining allmost evryday and now it's getting warmer ( thank god) as the ex previous formmer mentioned there are many bars clubs and places to visit durring your free time .the nature near lyon is amazing but - i like it whene it's suny- the weather durring winter is just freezing .but if you'll go jusy for 9 months that will be great cos you won't stay for long, also you may joind ( poepl hiking on the mounts and many activities durring the year ) the point is you won't fed up .
accept the offer and give it a shutt

un_melomane has given a very thorough description of Lyon and I completely agree with it.

The weather is not that bad. It is not the Côte d'Azur (lot of sun and few rain) but it is not the Atlantic coast neither (lot of rain and occasional bright sun). It is certainly not raining everyday! Winter can be hazy and foggy.

Do not hesitate and spend a year in Lyon. You will visit Grenoble, an international city with a lot of foreign students and will be able to do some ski!